- Snow White has returned to 1,000 theaters across the US
- Disney hoped it could benefit from summer blockbuster season
- Takings are reportedly very poor
If you thought you’d seen the last of the ill-fated live action remake of Disney’s Snow White, you would be wrong. The film has returned to 1,000 theaters in an attempt to revive its fortunes, but Disney’s strategy is reportedly heading for failure.
According to reports, Disney’s logic was that the arrival of the summer cinema boom could help revive its fortunes. However, these evidently haven’t translated to reality given that the film is only bringing in around $252 a screen.
Read more: Rachel Zegler addresses Snow White live action backlash
The other perplexing thing is that Snow White will land on video streaming this month – so why bother seeing a film in the cinema when you can see it at home?
Have any studios tried to do this before?
Back in June 2022, Sony tried to put the underperforming Morbius back into cinemas and didn’t have much success. It brought in only $289 per screen the second time around.
Re-releases into cinemas might prove popular right now, but it’s only really working with films that audiences already love. A re-run in cinemas of Revenge Of The Sith did well recently, as did a remastered version of Coraline which pulled in a younger audience.
Why was the film so unsuccessful in the first place?
The film divided critics when it first came out. Rachel Zegler’s performance as Snow White was widely praised, but there was more criticism for the CGI and Gal Gadot’s performance as the Evil Queen.
Read more: Snow White: Rachel Zegler Praised by Critics
There was also a mountain of controversy surrounding the film in the run-up to its release. The casting of Zegler affronted some right-wing commentators because she is a woman of colour, while there was also controversy over the choice to use CGI for the dwarves instead of casting dwarf actors.
Disney said this was to “avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film”, but it prompted a protest by dwarf actors who said it denied them work opportunities.
Read more: Live action Snow White controversy explained
Many pointed out the political differences between Zegler and Gal Gadot, who plays the Evil Queen. Zegler has expressed her support for Palestine, while as a former member of the IDF, Gadot has made her pro-Israel views very clear.
